Don Kirshner, ‘the man with the golden ear,’ dies at 76

STAR-LEDGER FILE PHOTODon Kirshner, "the man with the golden ear," as Time magazine famously described him, died Monday of heart failure at the age of 76.

Don Kirshner— “the man with the golden ear,” as Time magazine famously described him — died Monday of heart failure at the age of 76.

Mr. Kirshner was best known for hosting the television show “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert” in the ’70s and early ’80s. He also managed the songwriting talent behind the hit television series “The Monkees” and “The Archie Show.” His first major success came in the late 1950s, when he became co-owner of Aldon Music with Al Nevin; there he discovered the likes of Neil Sedaka, singer of “Breaking Up is Hard to Do.”

“He was a great friend, a pioneer and a father figure for many of us young songwriters,” said Sedaka, in a statement. “He propelled my music career.”

Mr. Kirshner was born in the Bronx, but spent most of his life in New Jersey, residing in Livingston, South Orange and New Vernon. He died at the Boca Raton Hospital in Boca Raton, Fla., where he was being treated for an infection.

“He was boyishly enthusiastic,” said singer Connie Francis, who met Mr. Kirshner in 1956. “His favorite curse phrase was ‘I’ve got aggravation,’ but he always did everything at full speed.

“He knew instantly when something was a hit. He had a hit machine at Aldon.”

“Don Kirshner changed the world because of what he did on television,” said Rich Russo of Cranford, a disk jockey on WRXP (101.9 FM, New York).

SET STAGE FOR MTV

Allowing bands to play six or seven songs live during “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert,” Mr. Kirshner set the stage for channels such as MTV, which launched the same year Mr. Kirshner’s show ended in 1982.

“Don Kirshner will be remembered as a music publisher, a record label guy, a music supervisor and a guy that broke and made bands,” Russo said. “But the most important thing is Don Kirshner the television personality. No one was doing what he was doing at that time.”

Mr. Kirshner’s show allowed audiences to “feel a connection” with bands by discovering what they looked like and how they interacted onstage. Mr. Kirshner gave exposure to bands such as the Ramones, before they became popular, and played full-length footage of Bruce Springsteen for the first time on television.

“He was the perfect complement to FM radio, playing deep cuts of albums,” Russo said. “Sure, he had the bad ’70s outfits and would never pass a modern-day focus group, but he was super-influential and this was a true loss.”

“This was not just a song guy, this was a man who created the cornerstones of American pop music as we know it today,” singer Tony Orlando told the Associated Press. “Without Donny Kirshner, the music we know of today would not be the same. He was a game-changer.”

Mr. Kirshner was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Sheila; his children, Ricky and Dary; their spouses, Rina and Arthur; and his grandchildren, Alexandra, Shelby, Jillian, Matthew and Jaden.

Services are being arranged in Florida. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Don Kirshner Scholarship Fund, which is being established by his family for emerging songwriters. The mailing address is 70 W. 36 St., Suite 701, New York, N.Y. 10018.